


Something different

by TheKinkAwakens (thekinkawakens)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Flower Crowns, Force-Sensitive Finn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-28 20:49:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12615188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekinkawakens/pseuds/TheKinkAwakens
Summary: Their small window of peace wouldn’t last forever. The First Order would eventually regather and Rey and Finn would have to stop their training to return to the Resistance. For now, though, they could sit and weave flower crowns together on a planet covered in ponds.





	Something different

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Binary_Sunset](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Binary_Sunset/gifts).



Once again, Finn had beaten Rey to the pond where they began their daily training. He was already deep in meditation by the time she sat down on the cold stones surrounding the bright orange water. Even though she knew Finn wasn’t the judging type she still felt a sting of guilt as she sat down next to him and attempted to meditate. 

Rey had hardly mastered the force enough to warrant having a pupil. Thankfully, Finn was a much better pupil for Rey than Rey had been for Luke. He listened to her every word, picked up new skills easily, and didn’t end up breaking off a large part of the cliff they were training on. He was able to meditate and clear his mind with a natural grace that put Rey’s daily frustrating fidgeting sessions to shame. 

She reached out to feel the life force of the small squids as she listened to Finn’s even breathing. Finn had had his connection to the force blocked by his First Order conditioning, but every day he grew more connected. She could feel the difference now in the way he meditated. It seeped out of him and into the surrounding plants and aquatic animals, connecting him to the land they’d been living on for the last two months. He didn’t have Rey’s raw power, but in many ways that was a blessing. Even in the shallowest of meditations she could feel his energy flowing constant and stable. 

Despite all that he’d been through, Finn had managed to let go of his hurt, anger, and rage. Rey could easily see Finn being the type of Jedi of Old. She ignored the dark and bitter voice in her head that pointed out the similarities between how the First Order took in children and trained them to let go of their personal identities and serve a ‘greater good’ and how the Jedi had found its padawans. It had hurt to learn the Jedi order wasn’t the pure beacon of good that history books made it out to be. 

But Luke was right, the time of the old Jedi had passed. It was gone before Luke was born. What they were now was different. Rey could feel it in the force, calling her towards a new path, a new way of interacting with the galaxy. 

“Not feeling meditation today?” Finn asked, his voice breaking through Rey’s wandering thoughts.

“You know I almost never am,” she said. She was embarrassed to be caught, but Finn just gave her a wide smile.

“So, what’s on the agenda today Master Rey?” He only ever called her master to tease her, but it still made her feel like an imposter. She attempted to recollect herself and channel the seriousness that Luke had brought to their lessons. 

“I think it’s time that we go back and try mind tricks again,” Rey said. Finn’s face fell immediately. 

It was the one skill he’d made no progress in. No matter what Rey said she couldn’t convince him it wasn’t an act of darkness. Mind entering and control were the tools of the First Order and of Kylo Ren. 

He nodded though, as he always did, hiding his emotions behind a mask of indifference. It would work better if his natural state wasn’t smiling and relaxed. He only ever looked stoic when he was upset or panicking. 

Rey reminded herself that it was a necessary skill. Finn had come to her an amazing fighter, his connection with the force was constantly getting stronger, but little of it mattered against an opponent whose first move was to try and enter his enemy's mind and force information from them.

“Try to convince me that the pond is purple instead of orange,” she suggested, choosing something light and inconsequential. 

Finn looked at the pond and then looked back at her. “The pond is purple,” he said flatly. Rey raised an eyebrow at him to do better. He sighed and breathed deeply. “Rey,” he looked into her eyes, lowering his voice, “the pond is purple.” The was the slightest of brushes against her mind, but the feeling faded almost immediately. 

“That was close,” Rey lied. “Keep trying.” 

She felt him brush against her mind a few more times, but it never got stronger than a whisper as he repeated the phrase again and again. Eventually it completely faded.

“Perhaps this just isn’t a skill I have,” Finn said after the words began to lose their meaning entirely. Rey counted 119 attempts. Maybe a dozen had had any effect at all. 

“That’s not it,” she said. It wasn’t. Finn could probably do it right that moment, but he had to want to do it, and Rey was no closer to figuring out how to make him want it. 

Finn wasn’t bothered by his lack of success. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t think it’s a skill I’d use much anyways. How about we try something different?” 

Rey tried to think of something new to work on. “Well there is something else that Luke taught me that we haven’t tried yet. It’s not very useful in combat, but I thought it was worthwhile.”

Finn leaned forward, his attention completely on her. Rey looked around. She spotted what she needed growing closer to the pond’s shore. She motioned for Finn to follow her over to it. Raising her hand to cup the adolescent leaves she fed the force into the small stems, giving them the energy they needed to grow. Slowly, but surely, they began to move, small buds appearing along the lengthening stems. 

As they blossomed she looked up to watch Finn smile in delight. He reached out to gently run a finger over them and Rey pushed a flower up to meet his hands. By the time she severed the connection two dozen flowers had bloomed. 

“That’s amazing Rey,” he said.

“I thought so too,” she admitted, glad that he shared her joy. “They won’t last long though. Now that they’ve gotten use to growing this way they won't be able to go back to their regular growth pattern. It's really only a useful skill when you’re growing food you want to pick and eat right then and there.”

“Are these edible?” Finn asked. 

“No, they’re just pretty. Jessika did show me a different use for them though,” Rey said as she plucked two flowers, keeping their stems long. The knot she tied between them was sloppy but functional. “You can rope them together and wear them for decoration. The people on her home planet would wear them for festivals and children would make them for fun.”

Finn reached out and grabbed two, tying a much neater knot than Rey’s. “Like this?”

“Yes,” she said. Finn happily picked another flower and continued to weave, humming softly to himself as he did. It was a habit he’d picked up from Poe while Rey had been away training. She couldn’t help but to love it, she loved everything about him. 

Rey honestly couldn’t remember when she’d fallen in love with Finn. On some level, she’d probably loved him since the first time they’d flown together escaping Jakku. She hadn’t been aware of it though until after she’d gotten back from training and had been able to feel Finn’s burgeoning connection to the Force. They’d been inseparable since being reunited. Being with Finn felt natural like few things in the galaxy did. 

Her love for him was her best and worst kept secret. At some points, it seemed like the whole galaxy knew thanks to Poe’s smirks and BB-8’s mischievous beeps. She’d been determined to hide it, but even Luke had given her a knowing look when Rey had said she wanted to train Finn on her own for a while. She was hardly a Jedi Master, or really any sort of master at all, but she wanted to teach Finn everything she’d learned and learn the rest together. Finn, somehow, remained completely unaware that she was in love with him.

Their small window of peace wouldn’t last forever. The First Order would eventually regather and Rey and Finn would have to stop their training to return to the Resistance. For now, though, they could sit and weave flower crowns together on a planet covered in ponds. 

Finn finished his wreath first. It was beautifully made, neat and orderly. He’d taken time to preen some of the side leaves off of the stem so the crown was even. Only in comparison did Rey realize how chaotic hers was. She’d switched between different knot styles and hadn’t even noticed the leaves until she looked over at Finn’s. Her mind had clearly been elsewhere. 

He noticed her looking at his and smiled. “Here, I made it for you.” He placed it on her head. She knew her face was bright red. 

Hesitantly she handed hers over to him. “You can have mine then,” she said. It looked seconds away from falling apart, but he still seemed delighted by it and immediately put it on his own head. 

The day was still young so they went through another set of meditation, this time with Rey actually participating. Afterwards they both practiced moving items with the force. Rey was able to move a large amount, but she lacked precision whereas Finn was still building up his strength but could maneuver a rock through a dozen small holes with ease. 

To Rey’s dismay and embarrassed pleasure Finn was still wearing her haphazardly made crown when they went on their evening walk after dinner.

They were following the usual foot trails when Finn veered off of the normal path and headed into the woods.

“Here,” Finn said. She looked at the small shrub that he was pointing triumphantly to.  

“Here?” Rey asked. 

“This is a Auberry bush. Poe showed me one in bloom once, the actual berries were delicious. I want to see if I can get them to grow,” he explained. He kneeled down next to the bush and Rey stood beside him, watching as he examined the bush. 

Unlike Rey, Finn took his time when practicing a new skill. She watched him slowly cup the plant and close his eyes, concentrating on its life force. For a long while nothing happened, until his hand moved and the leaves followed it. 

The plant was steadily growing. He was doing well, but he wasn’t going to be able to get berries to sprout on his first attempt. Rey knelt next to him and tuned in to the flow of the force coming from him. She cupped the back of his hands with her own, helping him channel the force 

A soft heat spread from her hand up into her arm. It was the combination of both of them connecting to the force together. The bush seemed to glow as a small batch of berries ripened. 

Finn pulled back and smiled at her, brushing his shoulder against hers before pulling back and grabbing a handful of berries. He handed half to her. 

Rey could still feel the warmth of the connection in her hands as she bit into a berry. It was sweet, almost too sugary, but juicy and refreshing. As she ate a second one she had a realization. 

“You know, being in another’s mind isn’t always about hurting or controlling them. When I would practice with Luke it was almost pleasant sometimes. He was only entering so I could know how it was, but I felt like I understood him better afterwards” she said, trying to capture the thought that was forming in her head. 

Finn continued to eat the MauBerry but he looked pensive. “But what about the lack of privacy? It can’t be pleasant to bare yourself so completely to another.”

“When you enter someone’s mind everything isn’t bared completely to you. Only current thoughts or strong feelings. You can dig deeper of course. You can compel. But that’s not the only way to link minds. Sometimes it's just a connection.”

Finn didn’t seem sold on the idea, but his face was open and considering. Rey decided to keep pushing.

“In the archives, there were stories about Master Jedis and their padawans being able to sense each other’s movements and fight as one because of their mental connections. They were described as bonded through the force” she said. The stories didn’t specify how the connection was formed, but it worked to catch Finn’s interest. He was fascinated by the old legends, and he didn’t have Rey’s bitterness over the imperfection of the Jedi order. Finn had never truly believed that something could be entirely good. 

“What if you damage someone though? The mind seems so fragile. I’ve seen some of the people who Kylo Ren wasn’t careful with,” Finn said, still hesitating.

“You’re not Kylo Ren Finn. You’re the furthest thing from him. If you’re digging carelessly through someone’s mind you might hurt them, but you’re not careless. I know you would never do to someone what he does, you don’t have his desire to destroy,” she said with complete confidence. 

Rey didn’t push further. They sat in silence as they finished eating the berries. Rey wanted to give Finn time to think, but she could feel the pieces of the puzzle slotting into place. He kept flexing the hand they’d been connected through. She knew he was remembering the same sensation she was. When they were finished Finn remained sitting.

“I don’t ever want to enter someone’s mind who doesn’t want me to be there,” he began. “And I don’t want to make someone do something they don’t want to Rey. No matter what you and Luke say, those are things I can’t justify.” The vulnerability in his voice had Rey reaching out to grasp his hand before she could reconsider. She knew he was thinking about the conditioning he’d undergone and grown up witnessing.

“I know. And I won’t ask you to do that. But Finn, you need to know what it is like to enter someone else's mind. It is only through understanding how it’s done that you can really protect yourself if Kylo tries to force his way in. You know I’m willing, practice with me and I promise I won't ever ask you to do the other things,” she said. 

Finn looked into her eyes for a long moment before he sighed and nodded. “Okay, but I might really just be bad at this.” His smile was weak, but he squeezed her hand back.

“Okay,” Rey repeated. She turned herself to face him completely and he copied her movement, never breaking his hold on her hand. She reached out and grabbed his other hand as well. Luke had said physical contact wasn’t proven to strengthen the connection, but she felt that they both needed it to stay grounded. 

“Try to connect our minds, Finn. Feel my force and focus on it,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. Her heart was racing and her connection to the force was humming the same way it did when she was about to enter an important battle. She became convinced that whatever was about to happen was the will of the force.

He tightened his grip on her hands and gave her a questioning look. She nodded. She was unexpectedly nervous, but she knew with complete certainty that she wanted him to continue. 

There was a push against her mind. It wasn’t forceful, just a gentle request to enter. Rey opened her mind to the sensation. There was nothing, and then suddenly she was no longer alone and was all at once aware for the first time that she had been alone her entire life. Finn’s mind embraced her own and was embraced, connecting them both in a way that was nothing like Luke’s cursory entries. 

She exhaled and could feel him exhaling at the same time. She inhaled and felt the breath travel through his body as her own breath travelled through hers. It was everything she’d ever wanted. She realized too late that she was helpless to stop the surge of affection, pride, and love that she felt for him. He responded with a burst of surprise, followed almost immediately with a wave of love that matched her own. It seemed to last an eternity. It was overwhelming, but Rey chased the feeling even as Finn began to pull back and disconnect them.

Rey wanted to drown in the experience, and probably would have if left to her own will. Finn, as always though, was her counterbalance. His thoughts remained sweet and welcoming, but he collected himself, his emotions, and his thoughts and pulled them back completely into himself.  

Rey felt hungover when she came back to herself and her own mind, alone. 

They both took a moment to sit in silence, and recollect themselves, their minds and bodies. Their hands were still connected. 

“It’s not usually like that,” Finn said. It wasn’t a question. He knew from being in her mind that she’d never experienced anything like that before. 

“No,” Rey said weakly. She didn’t know what else to say, and she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. In the moment, she’d been certain about her feelings and his. Left alone she began to feel doubt that what she’d experienced had been real or that she’d actually understood what she’d felt.

“Rey.” She opened her eyes and met Finn’s. He was closer to her than he’d been before.

“Finn,” she said. Her eyes darted down to his mouth. She remembered what it had been like to feel his exhales and inhales leave his lips. Her uncertainty faded.

“Do you really think that’s how padawans and Jedi Masters use to connect?” Finn asked. 

“Maybe, maybe not. But does it matter? We’re not Jedi. We’re going to be something different, something better. And we’ll become it together” she said, feeling like what she was saying had already come to pass. Luke had said once that a weakness of the Jedi had been that they weren’t allowed to love freely. He’d said that that, more than the darkside, had caused their downfall. They’d believed it could lead one to the darkside, but Rey had never felt more connected to the light.

“Together,” Finn agreed.

Rey didn’t know who had leaned in to kiss whom, but she knew that sitting on a world far away from the war, wearing flower crowns, and sharing a kiss was exactly where they both meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is for Binary_Sunset who was awesome and donated to Fandom Loves Puerto Rico & requested a cute Finn/Rey fic with flower crowns, force-sensitive Finn, Jedi training, and plant-growing force tricks. Sorry for the delay in posting, I hope you enjoy my attempt!


End file.
